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Originally posted by Fra Mauro:
Did anyone else see it?

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'Flight, we are docked!' Gemini 8 achieved first space docking 50 years ago

Before Neil Armstrong and David Scott made history walking on the moon, they set another record on board one of NASA's most dramatic space missions, 50 years ago today (March 16).

The future first and seventh moonwalkers were paired up as the crew of Gemini 8, the first spaceflight to accomplish a docking between two vehicles in orbit.

"Flight, we are docked!" reported Armstrong, seconds after piloting the Gemini capsule to a link up with an unmanned target vehicle. "It's really a smoothie."

The big back end of that Gemini must have swung around backwards immediately after they released the latches and I'll bet the equipment module wasn't that far away from smacking into the Agena.

I must have slept through the Gemini 5 mission because I don't remember anything about it at all.

I do remember the Gemini 7/6 missions. Again, the photos in Life made me feel as if I was there. Interestingly enough, Gemini 6 was the only manned launch I ever saw. I was living in Tampa at the time. I was walking to school that morning and took a turn down a short street that faced east. I was looking right into a beautiful sunrise when I noticed there was something moving upward just to the left of the sun. After staring at it for a few seconds, I realized it was Gemini 6 taking off to meet up with Gemini 7.

What I remember most about Gemini 8 was coming home from school that day and going outside. A few hours later, my father, who was in the Air Force, came home from work. Instead of eating supper at the table, he parked himself in front of the TV and started watching coverage of what was happening to Gemini 8. He was glued to the TV that entire night. He didn't go to bed until the announcement came that the crew was safely aboard the recovery ship.

While the photos in Life turned me into a junkie, it was watching my father watching coverage of Gemini 8 that finally put the hook in my mouth and landed me firmly on the distant shores of space travel. At the time, I had no idea who Armstrong or Scott were, but I became just as concerned for their safety as my father was. I also breathed a huge sigh of relief when they returned safely back to earth.

After reflecting on the flight of Gemini 8 for 50 years now, I can safely say that I appreciate what they were able to accomplish more now than ever before. Not so much the docking, although that was a huge step in getting us to the moon, but the fact that they came within seconds of blacking out. I didn't know they were already getting tunnel vision until I read about it in my books.

I can't imagine anyone being more humble after becoming the first man on the moon than Armstrong was. He was the perfect man to command that flight. I also can't imagine Apollo 15 being as successful as it was without Scott sitting in the left seat. His dedication to science during that flight awakened a curiosity and interest in me that lingers to this day.

Batman premiered in Jan 1966 and was an instant hit. It had a unusual format in that each week featured a two-part episode that ran on consecutive nights. The episode that ran on March 16, 1966 was the first to feature Catwoman as played by Julie Newmar. The episode was so butchered, by news bulletins discussing Gemini 8's plight, as to be not comprehensible. Most complaints, and there were a LOT of them, were written by middle-aged adults. My favorite, from a housewife, stated, “Batman was interrupted three times for that space thing. Nothing is so important that is worth doing that!”

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Originally posted by schnappsicle:
I must have slept through the Gemini 5 mission because I don't remember anything about it at all.

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This year marks the 55th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and David Scott's Gemini 8 mission! To celebrate the incredible achievements of this mission, the Armstrong Air & Space Museum will be providing unique content, stories, and a Facebook Live event on the actual anniversary, March 16th.

And of course, stop in, learn about the mission, and see the actual Gemini 8 capsule, located in the museum's Early Space Gallery!

Fifty-five years ago, on March 16, 1966, the Gemini VIII astronauts made the world's first space docking, quickly followed by the first life-threatening, in-flight emergency in the short history of the U.S. human spaceflight program.